Tag: ice sailing

6th term, week 7 ⚓️✌🏻

14th till 20th of March 2022

Hello my friends!! back again!

So yes remember? we loaded wood pulp in Brake Germany a couple of days ago and we passed the Kiel channel on Sunday. We are heading to Kotka, Finland, with the wood pulp… Did I mention to you that I made myself a challenge for the whole month of March? The challenge is to go outside at least once a day, whatever the weather, for a short tour on deck and to get fresh air and silence on the fore deck for example. I realised I missed it being on deck and walking around. I missed the silence and the view. You know when you are on a sailing vessel, most of the time you are underway sailing with no engine but the wind blowing in the sails and the hair. I love that feeling. And onboard cargo ships, you tend to forget how it is to be outside with cold and rain, handling sails. Of course with time you forget the « miserable » part of being wet and cold outside for hours on your watch right? but you get nostalgic for the fresh air and the wind… and the beautiful view from the top of the masts!

So there was my Challenge for the whole month of March, and to make myself accountable, I post a daily picture on Instagram. A black and white picture of myself – called a selfie right?- or of the view or something happening on deck. Pictures are not so bad in black and white! it is funny but it does give a different perspective; you see details differently!

Arriving closer to Kotka on Monday, we were also arriving back into Ice. I took time to go on the foredeck to enjoy the cracking sound of the ice on the hull. It was not as thick as it was a few weeks ago, but it was still a nice experience and very enjoyable.

Oh! but before I forget! do you know what was amazing during that night sail before we arrived in the harbour? I saw for the first time in my life the austral light!!! beautiful green lights in the air and that was amazing! In the beginning, I was wondering what it was, and why there was a sort of stain in the air. But then I stepped outside and realized that it was in several places in the sky; to be more precise, it was on a huge part of my Portside! Green stripes and a green « dusty » sky… it was marvellous! I just wanted to wake up everyone on board even though it was in the middle of the night, and I wanted to call all the other vessels on VHF to see if they had seen it too! On my previous vessels, I would have enjoyed this with more crew of course, and the trainees. we would have been all staring at the sky and enjoying each minute till it lasted…. but now I felt really alone. Alone on the bridge with the green sky and stars. It was still amazing.

As we are sailing to Kotka, I notices some green lights in my night watch!
As we are sailing to Kotka, I notices some green lights in my night watch!

Fun fact, the next morning, when I told the crew and showed pictures they were all envious, but none of them would have wanted me to wake them up….

I thought it was amazing to see them so low in the Baltic. there were probably perfect conditions for the moon, a clear atmosphere and reflection to see them like that. Anyways. I was really happy and glad. I wish I would take shots of amazing ones now quite up North!

In Kotka, we discharged the wood pulp. This went quite fast as there was perfect weather for it: a huge blue sky and not one single cloud. I opened all the hatches end we completed at the end of the day. The next morning we sailed to Hamina where we were going to load paper reels again to Terneuzen.

Sailing into Kotka, in the ice
Sailing into Kotka, in the ice
Discharging wood pulp in Kotka. The skies are always amazing in Finland
Discharging wood pulp in Kotka. The skies are always amazing in Finland
chief officer Sophie smiling next to the coasting during the transit between Kotka and Hamina
Chief officer Sophie smiling on the foredeck, ready at the mooring station

Hamina is just a couple of miles further from Kotka so there was no hurry. We had to wait for another vessel ahead of us to complete before they would start with us. So guess what the captain and I did upon arrival in hamina? of course! we went for a swim! This time we stayed 5 minutes and it was really interesting because it felt way easier than the last time! It seems true that the more you practice ice water swimming, the easier it is! I realize for my side that when I remain still, I find it also easier than when I am trying to swim around. My next challenge if I have the chance to swim again this year, will be to swim slowly to a giver ice block in the water so that I also get a cool picture close to the ice and not only close to the ladder! 😉 safety first, of course, this has to remain enjoyable and do not worry I will not force myself only to get a cool picture. I also know that someone is watching me from the quayside, and that captain H. is close by in the water together with me too and we are supporting each other…. although I have the feeling he supports me more in this than I…. he says he is a Viking and indeed, he seems to not even feel the cold. or not as much as I do. ok ok. Actually, he does but he probably just shows it less ;).

The ice is every where around the vessel!
The ice is every where around the vessel!

What we did this time too, is that when coming out of the water we remained outside in our swimsuits in the sun. just moving around and doing jumping jacks just there to heat up from the inside. It was not cold outside. Or I mean, we did not feel cold as we were just out of the freezing water. But last time we went directly inside the heated accommodation, for a cold shower inside to wash off. This time we wanted to experience heating up from inside to the outside of our flesh instead of heat coming from outside towards our chore. this second experience was way better because we were almost normal after our shower; whereas last time we still had to move and relax to keep ourselves from shivering…..

Captain H. and chief officer Sophie swimming in ice cold water
Happy chief officer after swimming in the ice!

Anyways nice experience and it gives energy and smiles to our faces! It is so great to feel alive!

Enjoying a warm coffee cup in the bridge
chief officer Sophie Happy to be ashore , in front of the ship!

There was a change of plan. The ship ahead of us finished loading earlier and we could start loading in the evening already. the next morning I woke up very early to open up the rest of the hatches. This time I had a better plan than the last time we loaded paper reels. I wanted the crane driver to start from the aft for the last layer to avoid putting so many airbags around. Paper is a very fragile cargo and it needs to be protected everywhere of course. But only the last layer needs to be lashed because the layers beneath are lashed by the weight of the top layers. I hope you understand what I am trying to explain.

Ready to load paper reels in Hamina
Ready to load paper reels in Hamina

There we were off in the middle of the afternoon, outbound for Terneuzen via the Kiel channel again!

The weather was great. I must admit I enjoy very much loading paper reels. I hope we will have more of those in the future!

Taking in the pilot ladder after the Pilot disembarkation
Taking in the pilot ladder after the Pilot disembarkation

The sailing out was very smooth till the locks. I enjoyed the beautiful sunset which was nice because it started to feel like summer was around the corner. You know: great skies, big suns, still fresh air but you could feel the heat wanted to come through.

Sunset in the icy Finnish sea
Sunset in the icy Finnish sea
Chief officer Sophie Smiling on the foredeck while sailing on the Baltic Sea
Chief officer Sophie Smiling on the foredeck while sailing on the Baltic Sea

We were going through the Kiel Channel in the middle of the night again and you know what happened? I had the chance to manoeuvre again and enter the locks in Brunsbüttel the next morning!

I was very proud. Of course, I also manoeuvred out and to the river. I really enjoyed it. It is a great feeling. Probably because I know the captain is never too far around. I guess I would be a bit more nervous if he suddenly left the bridge to go on deck. But I know that that will be happening one day too. Each day is a step further. Fun fact: Captain h. is sending my parents movies of me while manoeuvring! it is funny they can almost follow me live while mooring!

Chief officer Sophie taking a selfie from the bridge after a manoeuvre , overlooking the crew chatting on the hatches in the locks
Chief officer Sophie taking a selfie from the bridge after a manoeuvre , overlooking the crew chatting on the hatches in the locks

It was again a very smooth sail to the Netherlands. captain H. was going to sign off in the next harbour and we would get another captain onboard. A captain sailed a few weeks with us but I had not had the chance to sail with him yet as we relieved the captain and chief officer the same day. I was a bit nervous as usual. I always get a bit nervous when a new crew joins the ship because I always hope they will be nice people and fun to work with, not too stressed and with whom I will enjoy working and learning too.

Sailing on the North Sea with beautiful sunsets
Sailing on the North Sea with beautiful sunsets

Arriving closer to Europe we could finally see a pink haze on the horizon: they were talking about it on the news the Saharan sand was transported with air masses to Europe and it was all over in the atmosphere: thin pink dust. It was beautiful.

Saharian dust on the Horizon while approaching the Dutch and Belgian coast
Saharian dust on the Horizon while approaching the Dutch and Belgian coast

We came into the harbour on Sunday evening and the discharge would start only the next morning; not so early. that was good for the last evening together with captain H. and the dog.

Let’s see what next week brings us with a new crew member onboard!

6th term, week 5 ⚓️✌🏻

28th of February till 6th of March 2022

5th week onboard here I am! Almost 2/3d done! Can you imagine? I cannot…

We are in Hamina (Finland) and we will be loading timber from Brake and Bremen in Germany. But we were only planning to start on Tuesday which gave us enough time to prepare for the lashings and sort the lashing store completely.

MV Ruyter moored preside alongside in Hamina, Finland, it is snowy every where and there is ice in the water
MV Ruyter moored preside alongside in Hamina, Finland, it is snowy every where and there is ice in the water

Last summer in the shipyard, all the rubbers from our hatch covers were changed. And quite a few leftovers were just dumped in the lashing store. Also, I knew that we had a few deck items here and there in the lashing store that were not organised. And you know how I am…. I like that all the same equipment is together with the same equipment. I do not like to find rubbers in one place and two other different places onboard the vessel. How can you keep an inventory or track of what you have or do not have onboard? Besides, when things are just dumped over others with for only excuse « that there was no time because it was shipyard ». Well….. I do not like that. It is more that time was not made for it, to my opinion. But of course, I was not there right? Wo what could I say? nothing.

Chief officer Sophie happy in her overall in the engine room making a peace sign with her hand
Captain H. standing by the engine as we just restarted it after the maintenance work

The previous Saturday afternoon, I had a look at what there was and where to give myself time to think of how I wanted to have things organised down there, and logically. I could think a bit better about how to use the spaces that were not as accessible once the slings were back in place. With the help of the trainee and the second officer we managed to sort and throw quite a lot of old items that we were never going to use again; because broken or too old. We managed to recoil and lash tight all the long rubbers from the hatches and to sort them and count them. Finally, I could have a proper inventory of what we had in stock regarding spare speed locks, wedges and corner rubbers!

We could store away all the extra tarpaulins we had for the timber cargo. Which would give us more space for the slings – hopefully. 

Our deck store is way too full of items we do not use that often either. We made space so that items would still be accessible also once the slings were back in for those spares too. Hopefully, the turn of the deck store would come soon….. I have big plans for that storage area! An extra small shelf for light items we use regularly ( gangway net, corner tarpaulins for bulk cargo….) and the rest we seldom use, stored in the forecastle! Hopefully, this will also soon become a neat space! Fingers crossed!

Anyways. It was a good Monday. Very productive.

A big vessel is leaving the harbour with tug boats, he has a lotto timber tiers on deck!
A big vessel is leaving the harbour with tug boats, he has a lotto timber tiers on deck!

Tuesday we started loading. I was ready for 5 am (there is one hour difference in Finland! So it is very early when we are here) to open all the hatches and have it all ready. The great thing with timber is that it is not weather-sensitive so I do not have to be afraid of not closing hatched on time. I can keep them open without worrying. They only started way after 5 am which was quite annoying for me. I like to be ready and on time for them to start working so, it is always a bit frustrating when they take their time. I mean, I know it does not change anything…. I just made myself a cup of coffee and it was all good you know. But a time is a time. Right?

The loading of timber has started in the forward part of the hold
Bigger picture of the loading process in Hamina: the sky is quite grey and the atmosphere icy

Anyways (again). It took us 1,5 days to load. Which was a little more than 3 shifts before we could start doing the lashing on deck. The good thing is that it was still during the day so it was better and easier for us. 

With timber, you have to be very careful that the hold has to be as full as possible with the least holes possible between the packages. The more cubic meters that are in the hold the better for the stability and for the deck cargo that can come afterwards on deck. Unlike last year, all the packages had different sizes. Or at least it is what it seemed to me. It was such a Tetris game for the crane driver to set everything in a good spot. I am happy I was not in his shoes.

View of the cargo hold fully loaded with timber, it is time to close the hatches and prepare for the deck cargo.
View of the cargo hold fully loaded with timber, it is time to close the hatches and prepare for the deck cargo.

Once the hold is full then we have to close the hatches, speed locks and wedges. We also need to take the drafts and know what amount had been loaded to know the stowage factor of the timber and to be able to decide and calculate how much cargo we can finally take on deck. Timber is always a tricky cargo and to give extra points to consider, we are also in Ice so we absolutely need to remain within the ice drafts marks.

The crane alongside Ruyter in Hamina
The crane alongside Ruyter in Hamina
chief officer Sophie is controlling the positioning of the deck cargo
The crane is slowly loading all the timber on deck with the slings

The ice drafts are there to indicate where the hull is most resistant to pressure and compression from the ice in the water. It is like the lordliness we must stay within. Especially in Finland; because if we happen to get stuck in ice and we are out of the ice marks, the icebreaker will not come and help us, or we get a pretty big fine…

The sun is out again, and chief officer Sophie is checking the drafts on the quay
The sun is out again, and chief officer Sophie is checking the drafts on the quay

Luckily this does not happen to us.

Once they had finished loading on deck, we set all the tarpaulins and fixed them over the cargo to protect it from water and ice. Then we positioned timber on top of the tarpaulins to prevent the wind from blowing in them, positioned all 84 lashings and heavy chains and started lashing down…. And it took for aaaages! You always think it will be faster but by the time you get back into figuring out how they work again and then slowly moving your way aft of the ship. Then suddenly it is 22:00 and the pilot is boarding and it is chop chop chop – gangway onboard – hatch crane is position – mooring lines stored inside – last two lashings on the aft (otherwise we cannot use the hatch crane…) and there we are off to bed as the watches start….

Crew is positioning the tarpolines on the deck cargo to prevent it to get too wet
Crew is positioning the tarpolines on the deck cargo to prevent it to get too wet

Trust me, after a few hours of lashing timber on deck with our equipment, you sleep like a baby! Better relax and stretch your muscles too, drink lots of water and massage your shoulders a bit! It is a full workout! Not only walking back and forth on the ship but climbing and jumping on and off the different heights of timber packages or down on the deck to fix something. I am really glad that at least it was not cold, windy, icy or snowy! We were lucky!

And of course, with timber cargo, you sleep so well! It is the total opposite movement from very heavy and dense cargo like steel coils for example. The ship just rocks like a baby. We were underway for the next three days in a calm baltic, before arriving at the locks for the Kiel Channel. And then it was only a short 12hours sail on the Elbe river to the Weser river leading to Brake. And of course! Guess what? We passed Kiel Channel on a Sunday!

Chief officer Sophie underway showing the deck cargo on deck with a large smile
Chief officer Sophie underway showing the deck cargo on deck with a large smile
Ruyter sailing along the cost of Sweden and enjoying a beautiful sunset over the sea
Ruyter sailing along the cost of Sweden and enjoying a beautiful sunset over the sea

We had to wait a few hours before passing actually. It was quite congested. They even said that we would only pass early morning instead of early evening as initially planned so we dropped anchor. And changed the schedule around so that the captain could be awake and fresh for both locks.

Luckily they called us two hours later telling us they had a pilot available for us so we could enter the locks and proceed from Holtenau on the Kieler Fjord to Brunsbüttel on the Elbe river. And that was another change of plan but to our advantage, as we would then arrive easily on Monday morning in Brake and have the full easy day to take all the lashings off and prepare for discharging on Tuesday morning only.

This is how the lashing of the deck cargo looks line with the slings and chains
This is how the lashing of the deck cargo looks line with the slings and chains
This is how the lashing of the deck cargo looks line with the slings and chains
This is how the lashing of the deck cargo looks line with the slings and chains

Perfect! That made us all happy!

I hope your week was good and productive like mine. Let me know in the comments!

Big hugs and see you next week for the following adventures!

Sophie 🙂 

3d Term, Week 7 🤩⚓️

1st- 7th of March 2021

It is already the beginning of my 7th week onboard! Time flies! This means I have already done 3 quarters of my term…. And I have only 2 weeks left… more or less depending on the harbours and where we will be: if it is easy or not to have a crew change according to the amount of time we stay in the harbour and the available flights and connections. I usually know a small week ahead of when the crew change will happen. But I still have quite some time to go. Captain H. He will be leaving soon. He is leaving in the next harbour and captain R. Is already onboard with us. Is it like we have two captains now? No. Only on of course but as he is new onboard and we are supposed to be sailing the following trips up and down with timber and it is still ice sailing conditions, Captain H. thought it was wise to have him on board a couple of days earlier to do a proper handover and make sure his vessel would be taken care of. Indeed As I said earlier in previous posts, Ice sailing is quite particular. You have to make sure you do not run full ahead into ice banks or you will damage the propeller. You also need to make sure you do not ballast for example all the way to the top so that the water overflows on deck and remains in the pipes. In this case, you will for sure damage your pipings and tanks because the water will freeze and expand. In freezing situations, you always make sure that you ballast a few minutes less so that there is room for expansion. On deck, you want to make sure that you do not get too much spray because, with our speed and the wind, it will turn directly into ice on deck. And this creates an extra unwanted weight onboard that cannot be removed so fast. This can be quite dangerous if it is not taken care of. If you listen to captains you have experience in this matter, they will always say that it is better to shelter, change course or delay the trip a few days if spray on deck becomes too dangerous. Of course, I totally agree with them!

Sailing with deck cargo: the timber is lashed on deck with strong slings

So yes Captain R. Came onboard slightly earlier for ice conditions and timber cargo experience. I must say, it is not because you are a captain for years that you have all the experience in all different cargo types and sailing in all the areas. Some ships never sail in ice and rarely have timber for example. I think it is wise to make sure that your reliever feels at ease when you have 2 red flags hanging above your ship: ice and timber. But of course, you lust think that too: better safe than sorry.

Captain H. Was going to leave in the next harbour in Brake. I never really like it when a crew goes home. I mean, of course, I am happy for them, but I enjoy their presence and I know for sure that with the dog gone, it would be quieter too. On the other hand, I do enjoy meeting new people… even if I find myself usually a bit nervous. I always think I have to prove that I am worth it, that I am good at what I do and that I take care of things, that I work hard…. And I must admit that it does stress me a bit. I know all captains are different and when I do not know them yet then I have to adjust, ask, test and see how they want it. And it feels to me that although I am home – in my second home- I have to change to please the new captain. Usually, they say « oh do not bother for me, just as you usually do… » but then come up with a full list of things that they want to be done differently. Haha. I mean it is never as bad as I make it sound but I have the feeling I am always nervous with new captains. Like if I didn’t like change; or like if my safe environment suddenly is not safe anymore and I have to recreate a new one all over again.

Early morning alongside in Brake, ready to start discharging deck cargo.

Anyways. This was the last trip for Captain H. And the first for captain R.

After w a few days sailing through the Baltic Sea then the Kiel Channel, w arrived in Brake and started the usual discharging process. hooks and chains off, slings off, tarpaulins off and timber away. The crew made it ready upon arrival in the night so that I could start in the morning with the discharging of the deck cargo. I am the one in charge of the cargo operations so I wake up early in the morning for that while the rest of the crew continues sleeping. Rest is well deserved because taking off all the chains and wood and tarpaulins is not a small job to do in the middle of the night!

In Brake, discharging the timber till late in the night

The mornings in Brake are always very peaceful and quiet. It is not a busy river and the fresh air is just there. On top of that, there is the smell of timber! It is a very nice cargo to have onboard. When you open the hatches, it comes up to your nose and it seems you are back in the Finish countryside on a holiday in a cabin far from the world, just coming home from a long walk outside and preparing yourself to sit with a cup of tea close to the fireplace and make your self cosy…. Oh well, I guess you can imagine the loveliness of the smell….

The last packs of timber before a good sweeping and mopping to dry the hold for our next cargo.

The next voyage finally came in the email and surprise! It was not Hamina! Of course not… We are « promised » a few trips of timber up and down and we finally manage to get into the right systems and tips and tricks and out. The office decides else wise. Oh well. I wonder if we will go back after again or if that was it for the ice sailing of the year. I have the feeling that was it and I should have enjoyed it a bit more…. Haha. Next year… maybe.

This time we were not going very far. Just from one river to the other: Eemshaven. We would get the cargo of another sister ship that got a technical problem. Oh! Actually, that is also interesting! And I do enjoy meeting the other sisterships around! I find it always fun to compare them and either be proud of our ship or take notes on how they do things… Not that I am not very proud of the ships I work on, on the opposite! But most of the time, people tend to forget how far some ships have been coming from and that a whole makeover takes time.

So there we were, after saying goodbye to captain H, we headed to The Netherlands and arrived just before the weekend started…. Which meant a full weekend in the harbour. Perfect to go for a walk and rest. Well, a walk is pretty much the only thing you can do in Eemshaven if you do not have a car… because where we were there was literally nothing except windmills haha!

We came alongside our sister ship and as they were loaded and we were in ballast, it was funny to be the same but at one high above. When their discharge would be complete, it will be the exact opposite. They were coming from another dutch harbour and their cargo was steel coils. These coils had to do to Szczecin in Poland. We would make sure that this would happen off course. A few coils had to come out because they were expected earlier so trucks were arranged to pick them up on Monday so that they would be on time for the client in Poland. The rest would go in our hold.

We were ready for Monday where all the craziness would start.

Ruyter alongside her sister-ship Sprinter in Eemshaven.

Our sister ship was very nicely maintained. There was probably no rust anywhere… and their decks seemed really perfectly painted. Our decks in the aft were still red from the old colour and because they would be descaled and painted from scratch later in the summer, they did not look as perfect. They had even carpets to walk on outside to make sure we would not bring dirt on the ship from outside! Or maybe it was also not to slip on deck…. Fresh paint and water can be very slippery.

Our neighbours were very kind. They invited us for coffee and we did the same of course. Their bridge was not as nice as ours and slightly differently arranged. In our PS wing, we have our little kitchen area; they had a space; their kitchen area was midships. They also had a fixed chair for steering and their office corner was on the Sb wing with two screens. I thought our bridge was cosier. But hey! Unless you are the very first owner and choose the style of your bridge, you get what you get right?

Enjoy a nice weekend and Sunday in the harbour and see you Monday for the next adventures with the steel coils!

Xxx

Sophie